The Sun Also Rises Count Mippipopolous Quotes

In The Sun Also Rises, Brett is the center of many men’s affections and desires. Male characters such as Mike, Robert, Jake, and Count Mippipopolous seek her attention and companionship. However, while Mike, Jake, and Robert see her as a love interest, Count Mippipopolous seems to have a different view on Brett. Instead of the typical comments the three love-struck men throw at Brett such as, “Brett, you are a lovely piece”, he urges her to enjoy life instead of drinking it away (85). Count Mippipopolous acts as a sort of guide for Brett, advising her and providing companionship. Count Mippipopolous, like Brett and Jake, has gone through a war, “seven wars and four revolutions” to be exact (66). They’ve all seen the horrors of war and they can understand one another’s pain, which is why Brett calls him, “one of us” (67).

His similar experiences makes him perhaps resonate with Brett, which attracts him to her, but also serves to steer Brett in the right direction. Later, when Brett says Count Mippipopolous is dead because he claims always being in love is in his values, she is implicitly talking about herself, as she is constantly with other men, “loving them” but then leaving them for another. However, Count Mippipopolous reassures her that he (and also she) is “not dead at all”, implying that there is still hope for her (67). However, while Brett and the other characters’ drinking seems compulsive and out of a need to cope, Count Mippipopolous can control himself and urges Brett to stop drinking as much and to just talk, telling her to stop hiding her emotions and problems and to deal with